Cigar and cigarette lighter



June 3, 1941. E. s. MANSFIELD y 2,244,563

CIGAR AND CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Aug. 23', 1939 Z''. 5'. Mansfield Patented June 3, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIGAR AND CIGARETTE LIGHTER v Eaton s. Mansfield, Atlanta, Ga.

Application August 23, 1939, Serial No. 291,591

(ci. lsv- 7.1)

a claims.

This invention relates to cigar and cigarette lighters, and has for its object the provision of a device of the class indicated, in which the customary wick chamber for fuel with its body of absorbent material is supplemented by an auxillary reservoir for replenishing the wick chamber with liquid fuel, communicating therewith by a port so small that atmospheric pressure within the wick chamber ordinarily excludes the entrance of liquid into said Wick chamber even when the auxiliary reservoir is higher than said wick chamber, the passing of fluid through said port for replenishment of the Wick chamber being accomplished by jarring the lighter With the device positioned so that the auxiliary reservoir is at a higher level than the Wick chamber, forcing liquid through said passage by inertia.

Another object of the invention is to employ an Inertia operated valve to control the opening between the auxiliary reservoir and the wick chamber.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of an auxiliary reservoir composed at least in part of transparent substance so that the amount of liquid in said auxiliary reservoir may be observed.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the following specification, and throughout the several figures of which the same characters of reference have been employed to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a pencil of the propel-'repel type, embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-section through the pencil, taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through an intermediate portion of the pencil showing a slightly modified form of the invention; and

Figure 4 is a cross-section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

The chief fault with cigar and cigarette lighters is their lack of reliability, due to the exhaustion of fuel. Ordinarily, the state of the fuel supply cannot be visibly ascertained, and the lighter refuses to light, through lack of fuel. The present invention not only provides a reservoir for carrying an auxiliary supply of fuel, but it makes this auxiliary supply of fuel visible so that it can be renewed in good time, and it also provides a simple control, by means of which the wick chamber of the lighter can be replenished from the auxiliary reservoir simply by inverting the lighter or otherwise bringing the liquid in the auxiliary reservoir above the wick chamber and then tapping the lighter so as to drive the fuel into the wick chamber through inertia.

The drawing shows the invention applied to a mechanical pencil, but it is obvious that the principles of the invention may be applied to many other forms of cigar and cigarette lighters.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral I represents in general a pencil having a tapered ferrule 2 at its lower end, through which the lead 3 may be protruded or withf drawn, by suitable mechanism enclosed with the fluid-tight tube 4, and which is operated by rotating the ferrule- 2. Y

Such a construction is, of course, Well-known in the art, and need not be described here in further detail.

The barrel of the pencil comprises an upper section 5 and a lower section 6 connected by a coupling member 1 having nipples 8 and 9 at its opposite ends to which the adjacent ends of the sections 5 and 6 are secured in any suitable manner, as by threading.

A lighting element I0 is secured to the upper end of the upper section 5.

The lighting element I0 is preferably made of metal, and the sections 5 and 6 of the barrel can be made of any suitable material, such as metal or any available plastic, but itis preferred that the section 6 shall be made of material which is at least in part transparent.

The upper section 5 constitutes the wick chamber containing absorbent material saturated with fuel which is communicated to the lighter in a capillary manner by the Wick I2, the upper end I3 of which is exposed in the lighter element adjacent the pyrophoric rod I4. The latter is for convenience housed in a tube I5 which, as shown, extends through the wick chamber and terminates in a bore I6 in the coupling member 1. A spring I9 constantly urges the pyrophoric rod i4 into contact with the serrated edge 2li of a hard metal wheel 2| which is rotated by means of a pawl 22 which engages a ratchet wheel 23 movable with said wheel 2 I The lighter element has a closure cap 2'4 pivoted along the axis of the wheel 2| and capable of being :flipped backward in the direction of vthe arrow The pawl 22 is attached to the cap, and when the cap is so flipped the pawl pushes the ratchet wheel 23, partially rotating it and causing the serrated edge of the wheel 2| to grind against the pyrophoric rod I4, produclthe end of the wick I3 which-is-exposed when Y the cap is flipped backwards. Said cap-is spring returned .to :the closed position shown inV Fig- A the shoulder v25 above the top of the ferrule 2.

The chamber4 within. this section and surrounding the tube 4 is the auxiliary reservoir for the reserve supply of fuel.

'I'he coupling 'I is hollow, and has a small port ing a spark which ignites the vapor surrounding invention is shown in which an aperture 21 between the wick chamber and the auxiliary reser- -voir is normally closed by a valve 28 having a stem -zs'extending through the aperture 21 and o1'` such size as to provide an annular passage between said'stem and the wall of said aperture.

Said valve is held normally closed by a light or orifice 26 establishing communication between- A the auxiliary reservoir and the wick chamber.

As has been Suggested, the wall of the section 6 is in par-t at least transparent, so that itcanv be readily observed `whether or not there is 'any liquid fuel in the auxiliary reservoir,- so that it can be replenished if nearly exhausted. 'Access to the interiorof the auxiliary reservoir is had by unscrewingthe sectiont from the nipple 9.

In Vusing the cigar and cigarette lighter above described,` it` is not advisable to wait until there isa complete failure'of fuel at the exposed end I3 of the .wick I2 before transferring fuel from the auxiliary reservoir to thewick chamber.. It is preferable, occasionally,'to invert, the pencil and jar the hand whichv holds it, against a rm support. With the pencil in this inverted position, inertia. thus imparted Yto the liquid in the auxiliary reservoir above the port 26 will force the fuel through said port and through the coupling l into the wick chamber. Ordinarily, when the pencil is in writing position and the body of liquid in the auxiliary reservoir is above the port 26,` the small size of said port causes an air lock in the auxiliary reservoir, which prevents liqv uid fuel from passing through the port 26 into the Wick chamber.

In Figure 3 a slightly modied form of the vspring 30, and upon inverting the pen and jarring it in the same manner as has been described in connection with that form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2, the valve 28 will be jarred open by inertia, and liquid permitted to enter from the auxiliary reservoir into the wick chamber.

|It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the basic principle of the invention may be embodied in many other forms of lighter.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Cigar and cigarette lighter comprising a vbarrel having anintermediate coupling member and upper and lower hollow barrel sections secured thereto, said upper chamber being a wick chamber containing absorbent material and havreservoir for repienishing fuel, said coupling havingl a partition with a port placing said wick chamber and said auxiliary reservoir into communica-tion, being of such size as to prevent the passage of liquid except :in response to an inertia urge produced by jarring said lighter when said auxiliary reservoir is higher than said wick chamber.

2. Cigar and cigarette lighter as claimed in claim l, the barrel section which constitutes the auxiliary reservoir being transparent at least in part.

3. Cigar and cigarette lighter as claimed in claim 1, including a valve normally closing said port and opening responsive to an inertia impulse.

ESTON S. MANSFIEID. 

